


Her (Not So) Fathers Daughter

by Nott_The_Brave



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Father-Daughter Relationship, Gen, Minor Violence, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 21:56:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13750008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nott_The_Brave/pseuds/Nott_The_Brave
Summary: Nott met Caleb one fateful day after being attacked in an alley. Ever since then they have been inseparable.One night, Nott jolts awake from a bad dream shouting for her dad. Who should respond but Caleb Widdogast.





	Her (Not So) Fathers Daughter

**Author's Note:**

> Havent written fanfiction since I was 15 (18 now) but the father/daughter relationship between these two was too much!
> 
> Also this was written just after episode 2, so it is before we found out about the jail thing. Concider this an AU I guess

Nott never had a family. Well, not a REAL family. She had been the runt of the litter. The smallest, weakest goblin in her tribe. Her own mother had made it very clear many times that she prefered all her brothers and sisters over her. However Nott’s father had taken a particular interest in her. He saw beneath the runt to the potential she could hold. It was rare that a goblin see a runt of the little as anything more than that, there was no explanation that Nott could think of as to why her father would vote to keep her around instead of abandon her like the rest of her family wanted, but he did. While all her brothers and sister were taught to be true goblins by scavenging, hunting and killing, Notts father taught her the ways of the Rogue. Stealth, sneakiness and how to take things that didn't belong to her. 

This, unfortunately, was her downfall. 

Nott became obsessed with shiny things, and taking things that didn't belong to her. Her father called it ‘The Itch’. At first it came in handy. Nott would go out into a nearby town, steal some money or jewels, then return without being noticed, presenting all of the objects she had taken to the tribe as an offering. This earned her the favour of the tribe and her own mother, who began to show an interest again, and made her father proud. It seemed like life would get better for the goblin runt. That was, until, a royal crowns guard happen to spot her stealing a ladies coin purse, and followed her back to where her tribe was positioned, without her noticing. He must have reported it to the rest of the guard because that same day, the tribe was ambushed. Many goblins died and very few escaped. But those who did managed to reposition. Everyone blamed Nott for the ambush and voted to shun her from the tribe. Kick her out and never let her return. She looked to her father. The goblin who believed in her, the goblin who loved her. She will never be able to forget the look of disgust on his face when she looked to him that day, nor will she ever forget the final words he ever said to her. “Leave and never return you disgusting piece of filth. I created a monster”

So no, Nott never had a real family that loved her unconditionally. Not until she met Caleb Widdogast. The reason they met? It may have been fated in the stars. However Nott had decided it was sheer dumb luck. Caleb had saved Nott when she had gotten into a pretty sticky situation because of her ‘Itch’. She was cornered by a gang. A gang that she had just majorly peeved off. She had just happened to be hiding in the shadows when a gang of people ran into the alleyway she was hiding in. Nott assumed they had just finished with a heist, because they were dragging giant sacks behind them, and she heard shouting that sounded like guards. The gang began laughing to themselves. That’s when Nott’s itch kicked in. They had stolen so much, surely a few gold pieces going missing wouldn't be too tragic? So, Nott attempted to stealth. 

In her head, the plan went perfect! She crept up, quiet as a mouse, took a few gold pieces, maybe a gem or two, and snuck away without the gang even noticing her. Outside her head? Didn't go so well. It started off well enough. She got close enough to the loot too almost be touching it. But she didn’t see the brick that was laying next to the coin. She stumbled and was unable to catch herself, and went tumbling into the coin, shrieking and causing the coin pile to shift. The gang looked over towards the sound and spotted Nott half buried in their loot. They looked at the goblin girl, furious.

“What the hell are you doing!” one of the gang members growled at her. Another one of the gang then picked her up by the scruff of her cloak and pinned her against the wall.  
“You were asked a question. Now answer it punk!” He slammed Nott against the wall again, causing her to yell out in pain. The hood over her head fell, showing her goblin features. The man grinned and growled “You’re just a piece of goblin trash. Nott winced at the words. He then drop the goblin girl. She gave a yelp as she hit the hard ground, now bleeding. She quickly pulled the hood back over and tried to dart away, but her way was blocked by the gang.One of the men pulled out what looked like a rapier. The others gang members all followed his lead. “Maybe we should just kill you now. No one’s gonna miss a piece of trash like you”. 

Nott closed her eyes, preparing herself, when all of a sudden she heard a voice. “What the hell are you doing”. Nott opened her eyes to see a stranger standing at the opening to the alley. 

Caleb Widogast had just been walking around, minding his own business, when he had heard a yelp come from the alleyway he was passing. Usually, he would have ignored it. Caleb wasn't the type of person to get himself into a dangerous situation. However, the yelp had sounded like a child's voice, and even he wasn't so heartless that he would let a child get hurt. So he took a detour, running around the corner to the alley opening. He saw a gang of what he assumed to be thieves from all the coin in sacks, threatening what looked like a young halfling. 

“What the hell are you doing” He asked, his voice raised. Everyone turned to him. This made Caleb quite uncomfortable. He hated being the centre of attention. He quickly glanced over to the halfling, seeing her cowering, and stood his ground.   
“Get lost, this has nothing to do with you” one of the gang growled.   
“Leave the young girl alone” Caleb demanded, stepping farther into the alley. All of them pointed their rapiers at Caleb now.  
One of the guys chuckled. “You think this thing is a young girl? How wrong you are. What it is, is filth that needs to be removed”. With that Caleb attacked. He sent a fireball right at them. They all yelled in surprise. Not expecting it. That's when they all attacked. 

Caleb managed to dodge most of the attacks, however one of the rapiers managed to leave a slash across his abdomen. Caleb hissed in pain, but continued attacking, using all the spells he had prepared. He finally managed to scare them off, when they realised, even outnumbered, how strong Caleb was. When the final guy fled, Caleb ran over to the young halfling child, who was still cowering. “Are you alright?” he asked, bending down to see the child. He went to lower her hood but she shook her head violently in response. “I need to make sure you’re alright. I won't hurt you, promise”. Caleb reached out to pull the hood down again. The young girl still shook her head but this time, Caleb ignored it. He pulled down her hood, and was shocked. It was not, in fact, a young halfling child, but a goblin child. She looked up at Caleb, her yellow eyes filled with fear. Her hair was matted with blood, and her face had many cuts and bruises. Her clothes were also stained with blood, some of it old but most of it new from the gang members attack. Caleb surveyed the situation. It looked like the poor thing hadn't eaten in a while. She must have been trying to steal some.of the coin to buy food. It didn't look like she would hurt a fly. 

“You look like you’ve been through a rough time little one” Caleb said softly while examining the goblins wounds. She flinched in pain as a response. She tried to scramble away but Caleb caught her arm. The goblin looked back at him, looking terrified. Caleb gave a kind smile. “Hey, no need to be frightened. I promised, I won't hurt you”. The goblins big yellow eyes shined with curiosity. She went to stand up, but then collapsed to the ground, blood pooling around her. Caleb panickied. He couldn’t just leave her there. He picked up the goblin, lifted her hood over to hide her face and ran out the alleyway. He couldn't exactly go to a cleric. They’d take one look and try to hurt her. She was a goblin, and not everyone would be as nice as he was. 

He ended up running to the tavern where he was staying. He went into his room and took out a healer's kit that he had managed to gather supplies for in case of emergency situations - A goblin child bleeding out over his floor surely classed as an emergency. He pulled out some bandages and started wrapping the wounds as best he could. It was at times like this Caleb wished he had healing magic. He wrapped the bangages the best he could. He could already see the white linen cloth turning red. He knew he would have to keep an eye on her and change her bandages regularly. He placed her on his bed and pulled the blanket over her. He could hear her light breathing to show she was still alive. Caleb knew it would be dangerous to leave the child by herself, so the rest of the day he was confined to the tavern, reading his books, going down for food now and again and a quick trost as night fell. He returned to his room to get ready for bed. The goblin girl was still asleep. Caleb had changed her bandages quite a few times. He went over to change them once more before bed. They were less blood stained than some of the others, and her breathing had evened out, which was a good sign that she was healing. He placed her back on the bed. It was then he realized he had nowhere to sleep. The single bed may have had enough room for him to squeeze in, she was only a goblin child after all, but Caleb didn't want her freaking out if she happened to wake up before him. After awhile of contemplating what to do, Caleb finally took off his jacket and made it into a pillow. He then got out a spare blanket from his bag and made a small place on the floor next to the bed. Used to sleeping on the forest floors while traveling, it didn't take long for him to fall into a deep sleep. 

When Caleb awoke the next morning, he opened his eyes to see a pair of bright yellow ones staring down at him. At first he assumed it was Frumpkin, his magical non magic cat. Then he remembered he didn't summon Frumpkin last night. Then he remembered he was sleeping on the floor. And finally, he remembered he had given up his bed for a small goblin. When their eyes met, the goblin jumped back towards the wall the bed was pushed against, startled. Caleb heard her hiss in pain from the sudden movement. He got up off his floor bed and saw her sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall clutching her wound. Caleb saw the bandages had soaked right through during the night and her clothes now had some new blood stains. He sat on the edge of the bed slowly. “Hey, how you feeling?”. 

At first the goblin just started at him. Finally she uttered the first word Caleb heard her say “Sore”   
“Well I would assume it would be sore, you were thrown against a wall pretty hard, and you are only little” Caleb said awkwardly. He didn't talk with other people much, especially not children, so he didn't know what to say. The goblin just started at him. Caleb cleared his throat. “Um we should really change your bandages. Don't want the wound to bleed out anymore on your clothes”. She looked down at her clothes and saw there were already some new stains mixed in with the old ones. She looked at Caleb warely at first, then slowly but surely walked over to him. The goblin girl sat on the edge of the bed while Caleb gathered the last of the bandages - he would really have to find more - and bent down at the side of the bed. He unwrapped the old bandages and inspected the wound. The cuts on her back were still deep but bleeding less and healing over pretty quickly. He hoped he had gotten all the pieces of brick and rubble out of it so it didn't get infected. The rest of the small scratches and wounds around the rest of her stomach and abdomen area seemed to have healed and left scabs that probably wouldn't scar. 

As Caleb began to wrap the new bandages, he heard the goblin speak again, this time louder “Why did you help me?”. He looked up at her. “I'm a goblin,” she continued “No one likes me. Others would have seen me as better off dead. But you saved me. Why?”.   
Caleb continued to wrap her wounds as he spoke “Well, I guess it’s because you were alone, and I sympathised with you. Also probably because you hadn't done any wrong persay. You were probably just trying to take a few gold to survive, and those thieves had more than enough of it” With that Caleb finished wrapping the bandages with a smile at the goblin. “That tight enough?”. She moved around a bit before nodding at Caleb. “Good”. 

He began to pack everything away. He looked over his shoulder as he did, and saw the goblin just staring at him. So he decided he better at least TRY to make conversation. “Im Caleb Widogast by the way. Do you have a name?”   
“Nott” she answered “Nott the brave!”. Caleb gave a small chuckle.   
“Well Nott the Brave” he turned to her “Do you have a family to go to? They probably really miss you”. Nott’s entire face fell. Caleb knew he had messed up. “I'm sorry i didn't mean…”  
Nott cut him off “No, you’re...um… totally right. My… y’know… family… will be very worried…”. Nott was a terrible liar.  
“Nott do you have nowhere to go?”  
“No, I meant yes, I mean…” Nott looked panicked “I have a tribe, somewhere, that I had better go find”. Nott quickly grabbed her cloak and put it on, throwing the hood over her head. She gave Caleb one last look and said “Thank you Caleb, for saving me” and with that she left. 

Caleb just stood staring at the door for a few seconds, then swore and ran down after her. But by the time he reached the bottom of the steps, Nott had gone. He have a sigh and went back up to his room. He felt guilty, like he had just sent the poor girl away, which he didn't mean. He didn't know much about goblins, or anything really. He began to pack away his things. He wanted to go out and look for her, but she could be anywhere already, she seemed like a fast little thing, and he didn't want to spend longer than he had to in one town. He sighed to himself. Hopefully, he thought to himself, she’ll be able to take care of herself. Those bandages still need changed from time to time. Caleb couldn't help but start to worry. “Hopefully i’ll run into her again” Caleb said aloud to himself “In another town perhaps. She seems like the traveling type”. With that, he picked up his bags and left the tavern. 

He had just entered the nearby woods when he heard a rustle of leaves and an exclamation of pain. Caleb quickly looked round but saw nothing. He sighed and began walking again. It must have been his guilty conscience playing tricks on him. But then he heard it again. Another rustle and another pain exclamation. He turned around quicker this time and swore that he saw the tips of pointy green ears before they disappeared into the nearby bush. Caleb decided to check it out to make sure he wasn't going insane. He slowly moved up to the bush and looked inside it. He smiled when he saw a small goblin hiding amongst the leaves, looking up at him with familiar yellow eyes. Nott looked embarrassed to have been caught. “Any particular reason you were following me?” Caleb asked  
“Um… remember when you asked if I had a family that was worried about me?” Nott said to him, now avoiding eye contact “Well… I actually don't. I was disowned by tribe and my family…” Caleb finally met Notts eyes, they were filled with sorrow. “I have no one”. He instantly felt sorry for the girl. With that he made a split second decision that would change both their lives forever.  
“Hey, why don't you tag along with me?”. Nott looked up at him. Caleb smiled awkwardly “I mean, only if you want to. You still need someone to help change your bandages and i've only had a cat to talk to for gods know how long”   
“A cat?”. Caleb snapped his fingers and Frumpkin appeared in front of him. Notts eyes widened in awe. The cat immediately went up to her and started purring and rubbing against her. Caleb smiled. If Frumpkin liked the goblin, then so did Caleb.   
“So, how about it Nott the Brave. Want to tag along”. Nott looked up at him and smiled.  
“Yes Caleb Widogast. I shall”. Nott walked out of the bush and the two began to walk together. 

“So touchy subject” Caleb said after a few minutes of walking, “But why did your tribe and family disown you?” Nott just looked down at the floor. Caleb knew he had hit a nerve “I’m sorry” he said instantly. “You don’t have to talk about it, it’s fine”. An awkward silence fell as they walked, Frumpkin staying close to Nott’s side.   
Finally, Nott spoke. “It’s because I have a problem, well, more of an itch really, and I got us into a bunch of trouble”. Caleb was confused but then Nott stopped where she was and began rummaging in her pockets. She pulled out what looked like Caleb’s coin pouch. Caleb checked his pockets and, sure enough, it was missing. Nott looked at him with guilt. “Another reason why I was following you” she admitted. “I felt so bad because you helped me and I can't control the itch and i'm terrible” she gave Caleb back the coin pouch and said sadly “I get it if you’ve changed your mind”. She turned around and began to walk away. Caleb quickly grabbed her hand, which was tiny compared to his massive ones.   
“Everyone has an itch” Caleb said with a soft smile “You just need someone to help you scratch it” 

With that the two ventured together. They found and old broken porcelain doll. Caleb created a mask for Nott so that she didn't have to hide in his bag when they went into towns, because the hood would sometimes fall and they didn't want to risk it. They accidentally found a temporary solution to Nott’s ‘itch’ when in a tavern one day. Nott snuck a drink of Caleb’s trost and the urge to steal the diamond necklace of the lady sitting at the table next to then dulled. Since then, Caleb made sure they were always stocked up. They also figured out when the alcohol ran dry, Frupkin, which Nott had nicknamed ‘Kitty’ (Caleb found this secretly adorable) helped to keep Nott’s hands busy. But when the urge got too much, Caleb was always happy to lend a helping hand. “As long as we do it together” He would always tell Nott “I don't want you getting caught and getting hurt”. People often mistook them for father and daughter in Taverns, which they went with as a lie, anything to hide Nott’s true identity, however little did either of them know that little by little this lie was slowly becoming a reality. 

Nott hadn’t had a nightmare in months. Not since she met Caleb, and had the kitty to comfort her most nights as she slept. And she hadn’t had a really bad one since she was a little kid. But tonight she was having one of the worst nightmares she had ever had. It started off at the tribe. They were all shouting at her. She was getting small and smaller as they towered around her, all shouting insults.  
“Filth!”  
“Garbage!”  
“Runt!”  
But the worst came from her father who was the biggest and most scary, sneering at her and getting right in her face. “I should have left you for dead like everyone suggested. You don’t deserve to be alive”. Then the dream changed. She was in the alleyway with the gang members, only it wasn't, because all of them had Caleb’s face.  
“You are nothing” one of the faces said while the other laughed  
“Nothing” another agreed with a grin “Nothing but goblin scum!”. One of the Caleb's kicked Nott and she yelled out pain.  
“Caleb” she said “No please”  
“What?” all of a sudden all the gang Caleb's began to merge and made one very big, very scary looking Caleb who was looking down at her “You think I actually care about you”. He laughed. It was booming and echoed. “I regret saving you that day” all of a sudden Caleb’s voice and her father's voice merged “You piece of scum. Why did I save you. You are nothing”  
“Please, no” Nott cried, tears streaming down her face. “Caleb. Dad no. Please”. The joint evil laughter of Caleb and her father echoed around her as he kicked her again   
“You are nothing” both voices echoed once again in unison “I never loved you. I never cared for you. I felt sorry for you. And that has brought me nothing but trouble”  
“Please dad no” Nott cried “Dad”

“DAD” Nott jolted awake. She was in the bed of a room in a tavern, but she wasn't focusing on that. Tears streamed down her face. “DAD!” she yelled again. When she had nightmares this bad when she was younger, she always called for her father. Then she remembered where she was, and that her father had disowned her. She began to cry “Dad” she wept, even though she knew it was pointless. Then, all of a sudden, Nott felt the weight of the bed shift. before she could comprehend what it was a pair of arms wrapped around her and brought her into a hug. At first Nott panicked, then she looked up and Saw Caleb’s concerned face and she broke down into sobs, cuddling into him.   
Caleb rubbed her back and made shushing noises “It’s alright” he said soothingly “It’s alright Nott i’m here”. They sat like that for a while while Nott began to calm down and her sobs became less and less. Finally she calmed down and began to drift off from exhaustion. Caleb summoned Frumpkin and lay her back down on the bed. When Frumpkin had curled up next to her, he went to return to the floor, but Nott reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked at her as she gave him a sad look. She didn't want the nightmare to return. She couldn't bare him saying he hated her again. She didn't want him to leave her alone.  
“Stay” she said sadly. Caleb just looked at her for a moment and Nott was afraid she had said something wrong. But he smiled at her. He lifted the covers and climbed into the bed beside Nott and Frumpkin. The kitty decided it was to squashed and promptly got up and moved to the end of the bed to sleep. Nott instantly moved closer to Caleb, cuddling into him. As she was drifting off she knew she had to thank him. Thank him for always being there, even though he didn’t have to be. For calming her down from her nightmare when he could have just let her cry herself back to sleep. What she meant to say was “Thank you Caleb”. She wasn't sure if that was what came out, and frankly she was too tired to care at the moment. She drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

Nott began to drift off cuddled into Caleb. He was sure he could move once she was asleep. It couldn't be comfortable cuddling into him when she was used to having the whole bed to herself. He just lay there and let her fall asleep. But what he wasn’t expecting was the words that she quietly said as she was drifting off.  
“I love you dad”. Caleb just froze for a while. Then he grinned, a tear coming to his eye. He had never had someone tell him they loved him, not in a long while. Caleb wrapped his arms around his goblin daughter and kissed her gently on the head.  
“Love you too Nott”. Caleb had been alone for most of his life with only a cat to keep him company. Now he had a daughter. He had a family. Caleb pulled Nott closer to him before drifting off into one of the best sleeps he had ever had.


End file.
